GT Snap Shots: Reboot
by LockDown
Summary: GT Snap Shots to take into account the changes of ME2. People called him Archangel. She would give up everything to save her father's legacy. How two years of drift affect two shipmates back together on another suicide journey.
1. Chapter 1

People called him an Archangel. He wasn't entirely sure how that came to be but it stuck. After he looked it up he thought that Seraphim might have been a better choice. An angel was seen as a symbol of good. A Seraphim was a kind of angel yes but they admitted that their role was one of death, much like his was.

However, because of the people he killed he was seen as an agent of good. To the common people on Omega he was. In his own book he knew what he was; a vigilante at best or a rogue cop at worst. He was a selective murderer. An assassin on a large scale. Just because the people he killed were deemed bad by society seemed to justify his actions in the eyes of the people and thus he had been marked a savior.

He knew he was no savior. The only savior he knew had been killed two years ago. Joker had said that Shepard had been spaced. He wondered how that death would be like. Just floating in space until your oxygen ran out. It almost seemed preferable to the death he had coming for him holed up in this building. He was likely to be shot to death. His last moments would be spent in agonizing pain as his blue blood leaked from his shattered body.

He would make them pay dearly for his death though. He still had some food, plenty of ammo, and was well fortified. All the lower levels were sealed. Only way to him was over the bridge. If anyone made it past that there was only one stairway up. And so far no one made it past the bridge.

Only then a few people made it across the bridge and up the stairs because he let them. Two of them he knew and one he didn't but didn't shoot dead because no freelance merc in their right mind would come to a battle field in a lab coat.

There were few pleasantries exchanged. There was no time. The mission came first and the mission was to get him out of there. However he wasn't leaving until he had decimated all three of the merc groups after him.

So she took the lab coat and they resealed the doors and had left _her_ to cover his back. The first thing _she_ says to him is that this is just like old times. With _her_ shotgun covering his back he knows he has nothing to worry about. He grins in the first time in over two years without even realizing it.

The grin vanishes as the day wears on. Eventually that blasted gunship comes back. Pins them all down until he exposes himself to draw its fire so that she can get a clean shot at it. Even back from the dead she's still the same person he remembers. Good. He wouldn't follow anyone else through hell.

Still he pays the price he knew he would. His shields are ripped through and his armor pierced. He's bleeding. No. He's dying and he knows it. His vision grows faint and the noise of the world around him fades away. It's quiet. Finally.

He doesn't feel _her_ hands on his chest desperately trying to stem the flow of blood. He doesn't hear _her_ passionate cries calling him back. With his faltering sight he does see those eyes he's spent countless nights dreaming about. Those large expressive eyes are hard to see because of a purple haze but he can tell that they are staring back at him. It's nice that his last sight will be those loving eyes.

A/N: Just for the record I want to say that I really did like the fact that Garrus and Tali became romanceable. Given the feedback I think it was inevitable. However, I still think Tali and Garrus are a much better fit for each other so I'm putting back on my GT captain hat and setting the tiny ship out to reflect the changes of ME2. Seriously, I think I have the only full length GT fic out there so I claim de facto captainship.

I'm surprised I got a few things right about them like Tali going back to the Flotilla and Garrus eventually going rogue.


	2. Chapter 2

Vigil of an Angel

Tali didn't know what to think. She couldn't think. Her mind was just blank as she paced nervously back and forth in front of the medbay door. _He_ had been such a mess. By the time they had gotten _him_ to sickbay a frightening portion of her suit was tinted blue from his blood. And she hadn't wanted to leave. Shepard had had to physically haul the quarian out of sickbay and made her get cleaned up.

After that Tali had come back to do her pacing. She was vaguely aware of what the people around her were doing. Eating and talking mostly. On occasion they would mention something about her and why she was pacing. Most surmised that she knew the turian that had been brought in from the last foray into Omega.

At some point, she's not quite sure when, Tali stopped her pacing to sit down at one of the tables. Just to take a short rest. And to think. Why was she so fearful that Garrus might not pull through? Because she knew him? Yes that could be part of it. Shepard knew him too but then again Shepard had a ship to run. Or at least keep the ship from backstabbing her. Tali could be doing work down in engineering but what if he came out of surgery?

What if he came out of surgery? Then what? Tali didn't know. She could say something to him. That might tip him off that she's been worried sick over him. That wouldn't do. There's no need for him to know she's been harboring foolish girlish fantasies about him for the last 3 years.

It's not like he wasn't incredibly good looking and had the personality to go with it. Or a good cop. That went totally badass. There had to be a reason why he went all vigilante crime-fighter. Last Tali knew, Garrus had gone back to work for C-Sec. They had kept in touch, sort of, for about a year before he stopped returning her letters. Tali guessed she knew why now.

Dinner came and went and still no word. Finally Shepard came down, probably at the behest of Dr. Chakwas, and made Tali eat dinner and go to bed. Garrus was out of surgery but still hadn't come around and wasn't expected to until the morning.

Tali was unhappy with being treated like the child gloves. That was another reason Tali always had liked Garrus. He never used the kid gloves with her. Everyone on the original _Normandy_ had started out treating her different since she was the only galactic minor on board at the time. Never mind she knew how to make the ship run better then the chief engineer. Granted she was an engineering prodigy by even quarian standard but she would have thought they wouldn't handle her with such delicacy.

With Garrus it was always straightforward. Tali can remember Shepard actually taking him aside and chastising him for it. Garrus had countered with something about how can she learn if everyone was always holding her hand and how that defeated part of the purpose of the Pilgrimage.

It wasn't until the next morning's meeting that Tali heard over the comm that Garrus had "escaped" the sickbay and was heading up to the conference room. For the next few minutes Tali was sure Shepard was talking but her voice had become a drone in the background. All of her attention was fixed on the doors. Once those slid open Tali was out of her seat and embracing a very surprised turian who couldn't suppress a shout of pain causing Tali to let go.

"Cracked ribs." Garrus explained before giving a hug to Tali who returned it very gently. Secretly Tali was reveling at the joy of getting to hug a Garrus that was out of his armor. All he had on was civilian clothing and Tali could "feel" his smooth scales. There were an alarming amount of rough patches that Tali assumed were scares.

"Garrus, good to see you're up."

"Death seems to agree with your Shepard. You're looking well."

"Thank you Garrus. How do you feel?"

"Almost as bad as when Sovereign nearly crushed us. Dr. Chakwas said something about cyborgnetics. How bad is it?"

Tali looked up at his face. His right mandible had been replaced as well as a good portion of the right side of his head. The flesh that had been saved was horribly scared.

"I thought so. I saw my armor."

"It's not that bad Garrus."

Garrus looked down at Tali who was still hugging him. "I guess a few more 'distinguishing features' can't hurt.

"Tali, could you escort Garrus back to the sickbay before Dr. Chakwas comes up here and chews me out? Garrus, once you get the all clear we'll have another meeting to catch you up."

"Since Tali is here you must have food I can eat. We can talk over dinner then."

"Dinner? Tonight? You really think Dr. Chakwas will let you out by then?" Shepard asked with an amused grin. While the good doctor might give Garrus a little leeway since he was an old friend, he was still in really bad shape even if he didn't want to admit it.

"It's just a few cracked ribs. I'll be combat ready in a week given the amount of medigel she's pumping into me down there."

"Right, that reminds me. Have to get more medigel the next time we stop by somewhere." Shepard muttered to herself. "Now go on. And Tali, make sure you actually let go of Garrus when you get to sickbay."

A/N: Let me set the stage so everyone is on the same page. I play my female Shepards as Paragons so in my verse Shepard went and recruited Tali immediately and then got Mordin. Mostly since this Shepard will never trust Cerberus it is much better to have an old friend watch your back. Mordin was picked up because he's on Omega and "neutral." And he sings and is my fav new character. Also, I can't remember if Tali was on the Normandy when it all went to hell. In this verse, no. After Sovereign she went straight back to the Flotilla with the Geth Data.

Last chapter was the pickup of Archangel. We'll be going on from there. How much of the game I cover and how much I add in is unsure at this point.

Also, just to be clear. This is going to focus on Garrus and Tali. Any other characters that get any "screen" time will be as a result of interaction with those two. Even Shepard is going to be forced into a secondary role here and there will be no Shepard/Garrus/Tali triangle. So things might happen that we'll only see from either G's or T's point of view.

Next Chapter, a private dinner between old three friends.


	3. Chapter 3

Dining with Shepard

Garrus had been right about one thing. He would be having dinner with Shepard. Just not that evening. Dr. Chakwas managed to sufficiently cow him into spending another night in sickbay. So he had plenty of time to reflect on what he had been through and seen the other day.

Getting ripped to shreds by .50 cal rounds and then being partially rebuilt did make him look at his own mortality for a few moments. He didn't need long to reinforce what he already knew. He was very mortal but just too stubborn to die. That or he was already dead but Death was too afraid to actually tell him.

He had been in far too many close calls, even since his original stint the first time around with Shepard, to be worried about dying. He knew he would. It was just a matter of when. And knowing Shepard, she had picked on insanely difficult mission with low survivability. At least Garrus knew he would be seeing a lot of ground time. Even with the rotational program Shepard had put in place last time, he and Wrex somehow got all the really dangerous/fun missions.

However, it wasn't the impending doom that occupied his thoughts. It was the lone quarian on the crew manifest. They had always gotten along really well. They were good friends. Maybe even really good friends. Even after Tali left to go back to the Flotilla they kept in contact with each other up until he dropped off the map.

Hells, they had even come up with their own sign language for each other after Garrus mentioned how hard it was to read most of her expressions through that thick glass mask. After all, 90% of communication was nonverbal. And he still remembered all the signs and Tali was still using them, if unconsciously. She had been extremely embarrassed and quiet the entire trip back down to sickbay after Shepard had made that friendly jab at them both.

Still, Garrus wished Shepard hadn't done that. It had been very welcoming to have physical contact on his body that wasn't trying to do bodily harm. And her hands had been roaming all over his back and sides while he had chatted with Shepard. Now if only she hadn't been in a suit and Shepard wasn't there…

Garrus stopped his train of thought. That was a real gray area that most likely couldn't end well. Yes turian/quarian relationships were possible, even physical ones, but it took some dedication. Never mind he was a bit older. Like over twice her age older. He was old enough to be her father.

And it's not like he could provide. Vigilante pay wasn't great and what money he made went towards guns and ammo. Sure he had his full pension since he had military time and C-Sec time that hit the 20 year mark. Great, Tali was as old as his pension. What a novel and romantic way to remember her age.

Romantic? Where had that though come from? Oh this mission was going to be pure torture one way or the other. Either things worked out and things would be great or things didn't work out and they had to spend the remainder of the mission just barely being civil with each other. Hidden option C said they didn't do anything and just let the tension build up and up over the duration of the mission, have a short lived and ill conceived night of passion most likely resulting in her getting sick, and then forcing them into a weird awkward place when the mission was over.

Well Garrus couldn't stew over his options for too much longer. He had to shower (with actually hot water) and get dressed for this dinner with Shepard. Somehow his meager collection of worldly possessions had made onboard with him. Garrus would bet it had been that salarian doctor that had thought to bring his pack back to the ship. Shepard and Tali would have been too busy trying to keep him from bleeding out but trust the nonlinear thinking of a salarian to do other things.

Not that he was ungrateful. The clothes he had been wearing were full of holes from rounds or been torn by Dr. Chakwas during treatment. So at the very least he had something decent to wear to dinner.

Dinner was a business affair mostly. Shepard told Garrus that she didn't trust Cerberus and was glad that he was the "Archangel" on her recruiting list. She was technically in charge of the mission and supposedly had a lot of reaching power but she wasn't too sure how true that would be.

"There's Jacob, who's decent enough and says he's suspicious of Cerberus. Maybe's that's to get me to trust him a bit more. The real problem is Miranda. I'm fairly sure her job is what your job was on the last trip." Shepard said.

"And what job would that be?" Garrus asked. He had several jobs on the last trip. Mechanic for the Mako, guide for the Citadel, sniper/combat expert for the ground team.

"To spy and keep tabs on me." Shepard said with a smile.

Garrus raised an eyebrow "You knew then?"

"I can hack files too you know. I saw the first couple of reports you sent back. I really liked that one where you told Executor Pallin to go fuck himself and if he didn't know what that meant, to go ask one of his human officers." Shepard laughed.

"I see. Why didn't you do something about me then?"

"I can get away with some small things here and there because I play nice with people Garrus. And I knew something was up when C-Sec, an undermanned and over worked organization by your own admission, lets one of its senior detectives go off on a wild goose chase with the first human Specter."

"On a turian vessel, the captain would have thrown me out of an airlock." Garrus noted taking another bite of his dinner. He had to chew really slowly. After all, his face was just barely holding itself together. "What about the rest of the crew? Any concerns about them?"

"Joker I have no doubts about and I can't blame him for leaving the Alliance for grounding him. I'm not going to second guess Dr. Chakwas since she's always done good by us. If she was here to somehow stop this little operation then she could have just let you die."

Garrus nodded. That was very true. He didn't trust many doctors and only two of them were human. One of them still worked on the Citadel as far as he knew and the other was on the ship. And Joker was just victim of bureaucratic bullshit. Garrus had been the victim of the same thing, though he had burned his bridges during the first mission, and gone rogue.

"Donnelly and Danielle in engineering don't seem to have any problem working under Tali and they were pretty straight forward about their feelings on Cerberus too. I think we can trust them. At the very least Tali will keep the engines going and Joker can get us places."

"You put Tali in charge of engineering?"

"Yeah. She was fine with that and so was the engineering team."

Garrus gave a small chuckle and then grimaced from the pain. Way too early to laugh or smile.

"What?"

"It's just the last time around, you always tried to treat her like a kid. I remember that you only let her work in engineering after Engineer Adams came to you begging to let her work there. And in the beginning you let her so long as she followed the legal work limits of human minors."

"We'll as everyone has been reminding me, it's been two years. And she's completed her pilgrimage so she's an adult now."

"Yes she is." Garrus agreed, his mind shifting towards that shady gray territory. Shaking his head to clear his mind Garrus asked, "Anyone else that you are concerned about on board?"

"I think Yeoman Kelly has a thing for me."

"Ah." Garrus wasn't quite sure how to handle that. Should he tell Shepard that last he knew, Liara was on Illium? How would Liara take it? Of the xeno crew, she was the only one onboard the Normandy when it got destroyed.

"Now that you're here, I can have two people I trust watch my back. Between my biotics, Tali's tech skills and your combat prowess, I doubt there is much that would pose a problem for us." Shepard said with a happy tone. "I'm glad I'll have some friends with me on this trip."

Garrus just nodded. He knew from experience how lonely it could be doing all the work on your own.

"So tell me what you've been up to while I had my long nap."

Garrus gave Shepard a basic run down of his activities. He commented on how the Council she had saved had chosen to sweep the entire Sovereign incident under the rug and down played everything. He couldn't put up with it and finally left the Citadel and C-Sec behind him and went to Omega where he put together his own team. For a while the team thing worked out well and they made some actual headway in Omega.

Enough to get the attention of the major mercenary outfits anyway. They wiped his team out about a year back and Garrus had been making them pay for not getting him too. He left out the fact that his team had been betray from within. While this might be Shepard, and yes Shepard was a friend, he still was uneasy about her working for or with Cerberus. It's not that he didn't agree with her style of getting things done, it's just that Cerberus had a very narrow view of aliens which included him.

"Have you kept in touch with anyone from the old group?" Shepard asked.

Was she fishing for information on Liara possibly? Garrus wasn't sure so he went with a safe answer that was mostly truthful. "Just Tali but only now and again."

Though Shepard didn't say anything Garrus was sure he could see the gears in her head turning. She was trying to fit an exchange of letters between Tali and himself and that really long hug yesterday into a larger puzzle.

"I should be going. It's getting late and it wouldn't do to have the crew start up false rumors." Garrus said as a way of excusing himself from Shepard's quarters.

"Before you go Garrus I have one last bit of business." Shepard went to her desk and fetched a small credit chit. "Here."

"What's this?"

"Your pay slip. I'm not going to have you work for free for me on this trip. I don't think I could replace Miranda as XO so I put you down as Gunnery Officer. It draws senior lieutenant's pay," Shepard got out in a rush. She remembered how much a pain it had been to convince Garrus to take some kind of pay from the Alliance after he had effectively quit from C-Sec. Of course she hadn't let him know that she knew back then and had disguised it as pay for the work he did on the Mako, which was a lot of work.

"The money is from Cerberus isn't it?" Garrus managed to grind out. He really didn't want to take the money but that was a lot of money he would be turning down. His mechanic job on the last Normandy had been just as ensign pay but even that was a tidy sum with combat pay and hazard bonuses.

"Tali's taking the money for her job."

Garrus nodded and promptly left. Shepard was sure to note how quickly Garrus agreed to something that Tali did. Maybe she could use that in the future whenever Garrus was being stubborn.

A/N: Here's my stance on their ages. I really would like them to be closer in age but it just can't happen. Based on the Codex, turians are in basic training at 15, finish at 16 and typically do 14 years service so that's 30. And while it never says how long Garrus worked at C-Sec, he had worked his way up to Detective and was considered a veteran. So I'm figuring another 10 years at least putting him at 40. I figure a year for the events of ME, 41, and add 2 more for the time jump and you get 43. So Garrus is an older guy.

With Tali, it doesn't say how old they are when they go on their Pilgrimage. Just at the onset of adulthood. So let us say 17 since that falls between what we consider adult (legally, 18) and young adult (licensed motorized killer, 16). Don't come arguing to me about 21 being a significant number or true adulthood. So Tali at 17 ends up in the adventure of a life time which takes a year making her 18. With the 2 year time jump that makes her 20 at the start of this fic.

So pretty young but since she's no longer a minor, she's romanceable! My main idea why she wasn't romancable in the first one. That, and the writers didn't know of the power of BIG EYES that made everyone love Tali.

If anyone can find DOBs that would be awesome. Also life is starting to get hectic so depending on work and muses this might take a little while.

I read over the original GT, kudos to me for picking 2 years as the time jump!

Thanks to all that have this or me on alert. And thanks to all that reviewed or sent PMs.


	4. Chapter 4

Angels apart in Eden

Ilium. If Garrus had to pick a place where it all changed it would be at Ilium. The crew had been given some shore leave while Shepard and himself to see if they could get any leads. Garrus did have a few contacts on the world, most notably Liara who was in the information business now.

Once Garrus put Shepard in touch with Liara, he slipped away to give the two some privacy. Over the next few days he would idly wonder if he won part of the ship's betting pool. He had bet that not only did Liara take Shepard back, but at some point over the shore leave Shepard and Liara would get their lips wet so to speak.

Garrus though just spent his leave in the bars and clubs. He didn't dance much. He had never been much of a dancer and it wasn't that fun to dance alone. Besides, his newly acquired looks seemed to make people weary of him. With his scars he would have fit in better at a bar on Omega, not here in the safe civilian world. As it was, he always had an empty stool on either side of him.

Still, Garrus made the most of it and mulled over some things. Well really just one thing. And not a thing either. A person. A younger person. A younger female. A younger female quarian. Named Tali.

Ilium was not helping his resolve. He had known about Fleet and Flotilla. It had come out just after the Sovereign incident. And even before that he had know that turians and quarians had a long history of inter-species relations. Places like Ilium had an entire industry built around that relationship. Restaurants, spas, hotels with special rooms, even now technology that let quarians live outside of their suits. It only cost 15,000 credits… no, Garrus wasn't going to think about that. The success rate was only 40%, far too risky.

And it's not like that would even be necessary. Turian/quarian relationships have been had long before that technology came about. There had to be sacrifices made by both parties but on a world that catered to such unions, it wasn't all that difficult. There were books and vids by the shipload offering more advice then Garrus knew about. Some of it was very practical such as kissing and mating differences.

Turians don't kiss. The closest thing to a kiss would probably be a nuzzle or a touching of forehead. That's not to say they couldn't kiss. The turians in the vids seemed to have gotten the hang of it, though Garrus personally thought it looked rather peculiar.

And the actual performances in the vids looked tame if Garrus was honest with himself. Some of the positions just confused the hell out of the turian. It idea of being face to face during mating was terrifying and something only younglings did in their ignorance. He had the scars as a reminder.

Even assuming that things could progress far enough to get to the point, Garrus still had to a find a way to broach the subject with Tali. He was sure she felt the same way about him as he did of her. Fairly sure anyway if that epic hug had been any indication. Still some things had to be talked about. Their age difference for one. It would be fine in turian culture but Garrus wasn't sure about quarians. And the mission. They would have to talk about the mission.

Ilium. How Tali hated and loved the planet. Despite what some of the older members of the crew thought of her, wasn't ignorant of the galaxy at large. At least she hadn't thought so until she had taken shore leave on Ilium. She had never imagined there would be so many quarians there. Never mind the industry that had been built up to support them and some of their more specialized needs.

Exosuit technology, special love hotels designed with quarians in mind, that epic holovid Fleet and Flotilla, all the turian-quarian couples that had gone to the cinema to see it. And then all the books and vids on everything turian-quarian related that she could ever want to know, and even things should could do without knowing. It was enough to send someone into shock.

The idea of being able to survive outside of her biosuit was the most attractive thing Tali had on Ilium. However at 15,000 credits it was a bit pricy and the success rate was only 40%. It was still something to think about though. She had seen a few quarians around without biosuits and it had made her very envious. Not to be trapped and to be able to actually touch things directly must be wonderful. And to be kissed. Tali had watched in complete envy as a turian kissed the cheek of a quarian who returned the favor.

Ilium, being the magical place that it was, had a variety of places and items to placate those unable to afford or unwilling to undergo the exosuit procedures. Things like stimulation modifications. Tali hadn't quite figured out what they were for until another quarian girl came over and explained it to her. Thank the ancestors for her facemask because Tali was as purple as her suit with embarrassment. Tali knew about _that_. She had her own techniques for _that_. That didn't stop Tali from discreetly slipping the mod into her shopping basket.

And then there were the vids. Wrex had once teased Garrus and Tali that if the two gearheads ever got together, they could make the first porno involving a quarian. Clearly Wrex had never been to Ilium. Tali often wondered what happened to those that never came back from Pilgrimage (a disproportionate number of females never return versus males). Well they came to Ilium it seemed and made movies. All kinds of movies involving just about every species in the galaxy. The only exception was krogan it seemed. Other than that, there were asari, human, salarian, and even elcor and hanar vids. The majority however was with turian partners. All male turians too. While being overly embarrassed by the nature of the vids before her, a small part of Tali's mind wondered, not for the first time, just where all the turian females were. Again, though, Tali made a few selections and added it to her basket.

Finally Tali came to the book section. There she found the most useful, and least embarrassing, thing in the store. A practical book written by a quarian author entitled _Your turian and you_. It was a bit spendy at 70 credits for a book but its preview section had things in it that Tali had no clue about. It went into the basket with the rest of her sinful purchases. Thank the ancestors her mother wasn't alive to see her doing this; shopping in an adult store in search of things that would help her pick up a certain turian.

Finally, Tali broke down and spent the night in one of those special hotels. If things ever progressed enough with Garrus to bring him to one of these places, Tali wasn't going to look like a complete idiot in front of him. She was going to look like a complete idiot to just herself. The room cost her 1000 credits for just that one night but afterwards Tali decided it was completely worth the cost.

There was a small desterilization chamber at the entrance of the room, a large bed that took up the majority of the bedroom itself and two small alcoves, one to either side. Upon further exploration Tali found them to be small bathrooms, one for her, and one for Garrus and they were not stocked the same. Garrus' side had several pamphlets enlightening him about quarians. At the top of each was the worrying reminder that quarian females couldn't stand up to regular turian mating habits. Hopefully, the book and vids Tali purchased could shed some light on this.

On Tali's side there was a shower that came complete with step by step instructions on how to use it. Garrus' shower didn't have those instructions. Her side also had pamphlets full of useful information like the differences in turian male equipment versus quarian males. Things still worked out it seemed but Tali had never even suspected that Garrus kept his manhood on the inside of his body. Though it made sense considering the turian homeworld had a certain level of radiation to it.

Additionally, on Tali's side there was a small area set aside with biosuit equipment nearby. A place to clean and mend suits if things got damaged in the haste to discard it.

Tali indulged herself in the shower and cleaned her suit. And she spent the night just enjoying not being confined to her prison. She may or may not have also spent the night watching a few vids, imagining herself and Garrus in the place of the actors. In the morning she had a minor fever, and a cold but it had been totally worth it.

A/N: I have been informed that Tali is 24. Not that is changes much but it's nice to get the facts right. I've confirmed her age with the Wiki timeline but there is no age set for Garrus so I'm still going to make him older at 43. I know this makes him old enough to be in the First Contact War but that was a short fight and it is possible his unit wasn't mobilized yet by the time the war stopped. If I remember correctly, Garrus never mentioned if he was in the war or not. I'm going with no since he seems to work well with humans, though his years at C-Sec could have done that too.


	5. Chapter 5

Talk of Angels

"I'm not letting you out until you two talk!" Shepard yelled just before EDI sealed and locked the doors of the conference room. Garrus looked over at Tali and sighed.

"Do you think the pool got too big or that Shepard is trying to hedge it so she wins?" Tali asked.

Garrus gave a low chuckle. Betting on just about anything was the ship's unofficial pastime. He had won a little money recently by betting that Liara would take Shepard back and he had been right. "I think she's trying to hedge her bet. She's still right though. We should talk."

"Oh? About what?" The quarian feigned innocence. She had been looking forward to and dreading this conversation for over 3 years now. Ilium, a few days ago, hadn't helped calm any of those nerves at all.

Garrus wasn't sure just how to start. Tali was obviously trying to dodge around the unspoken subject. Garrus supposed he could just be blunt about it but that wasn't very romantic in any culture to say 'I like you and want to bone you.' Well, it might be in krogan society. Plus Wrex was never good for advice that didn't involve killing things. Liara might have been useful but they had a working relationship rather than a friendly one. Besides, now she only got mushy with Shepard. And Shepard's idea of help was to lock him and Tali in a room together. Well maybe starting off with 'I like you' wasn't such a bad idea…

Tali always had mixed feelings about her biosuit but now she was glad for it. The glass sheet that was her window to the world was shielding her so that it didn't look like she was staring at Garrus. He had that look on his face that said he was thinking. Tali watched him for several minutes as they stood at the front of the room. While he thought, she gathered her courage. Finally she acted.

Tali grabbed Garrus' hand and dragged him towards a chair. She made him sit in it and sat in the one next to him, never letting go of his hand.

"Tali" Garrus started but was cut off by a swift "Shh" from Tali how used both hands to hold one of his own. She focused all of her attention on Garrus' hand and marveled on how well they fit together. Maybe this could really work.

"For the longest time now I've had a huge crush on you. At first I thought it was a silly thing and that I lonely liked you because you were a no nonsense cop. Then I thought it was because you were the first one to treat me like an adult even though I was still on my Pilgrimage, not that it meant much to anyone else.

"And over our journey together on the first Normandy we became friends, at least I hope so, and then it was over. I'm sorry I left so quickly, but if I hadn't I would have never gone back to the Flotilla and I had to complete my Pilgrimage. Then I was working but you were never far from my thoughts. I used to have dreams about you, us. Still do." Dear ancestors what had she just confessed to? Embarrassment sapped at Tali's courage but she still pressed forwards, just in a softer, smaller voice.

"It was just dreams, the silly dreams of a little girl. Then we went to Ilium and I found out they aren't dreams after all. We could really do this. I mean if you wanted. I know you've known about my crush on you for a while and I really wish you would say something because now I'm rambling and I ramble when I get nervous."

"Tali, would you consent to let me court you?"

A/N: Okay, I've decided I have to get back to basics. Short snap shots, not long rambling pieces. I would say this should increase output and update rates but work just picked up a lot so I will have to find time for this between work, the List (you know which one I speak of) and foolish things like my sleep addiction. I just can't seem to kick that.


	6. Chapter 6

Immortal Angels

"Tali, would you consent to let me court you?"

Tali didn't trust her voice to speak and just squeezed Garrus' hand and nodded.

From right on the other side of the conference room door came "What did she say?" followed by a loud "Shh" from several other voices.

Garrus looked at Tali and chuckled a little. He jerked his head towards the door and Tali gave a small nod. They both knew there was really not point to try to keep things secret. Hell, they knew that there was a betting pool riding on what Tali had said.

"She said yes." Garrus told the door and immediately heard Shepard on the other side ask what the time was.

"Now that you've had your fun leave us alone." Tali told the people behind the door. "You too EDI or I will reprogram you to think that you are a Pong simulator."

"Pong?" Garrus asked.

"It's some really archaic human game from the very beginning of their computer history. It's just two lines that bounce a small ball between them very slowly. Utterly mind numbing and boring." Tali explained. A silence fell between them but it was a comfortable one as they just held hands. Each was just getting used to the fact that they really were going to pursue a real relationship.

Finally though, Garrus broke the silence. "Our age difference doesn't bother you Tali?"

"No, should it?" Tali quipped and tilted her head to the left as she often did when she was curious about something. "I mean it's only got to be a few years."

"Just how old do you think I am?" Garrus asked, genuinely curious. On the first Normandy he had been the fourth oldest person on the ship only behind Wrex, Liara and Presley. However, Garrus wasn't sure just how many people knew that.

Not for the first time Tali was thankful that Garrus couldn't see the embarrassed look on her face. Honestly she didn't know how old he was. She hadn't looked it up on the first Normandy and after Garrus had left C-Sec the second time it became almost impossible to find anything on him. In fact it was easier to find extranet stories about his alter ego Archangel than it was to find anything about the real person.

Garrus' age was subject to one of the larger betting pools too. Tali had put him down as 28 based on an offhanded comment from Wrex that stated that the young turian should get out of the Citadel to learn more about the galaxy. Granted everyone was young compared to Wrex.

"You know Joker has a pool on just how old you are." Tali said hoping to side step the subject. "He thinks you're in your early 40's. 43 if his official guess. Shepard thinks you're only a little older then her at 33."

Tali watched as Garrus shifted a little uncomfortably in his chair. "What was your guess?"

"What makes you think I made a bid?"

"Among other things, the way you keep trying to avoid answering me."

"I said you were 28."

Garrus leaned back into his chair and using his free hand covered his brow. After all the ribs he had given the commander about cradle robbing the young 107 year old Liara, Shepard was going to have a field day when she found out.

"I'm not even close am I?" Tali asked.

"Joker is right actually." A pause and then again he asked; "Our age difference doesn't bother you Tali?" This silence was not a comfortable one as Garrus patiently waited for Tali to reply.

"I think you are thinking too much about something that doesn't even matter. Age is but a number. Besides, look at the age gap between Liara and Jane." Tali said with a smile.

A/N: Let the reviews flow! I predict they will be mostly about Garrus' age. However, until I get solid proof of his actual age, we're going with the age I set for him.


	7. Chapter 7

On mission with ArchAngel

"So… You're 43 eh? And Tali's just…"

"24. Save your cradle robbing jokes of revenge for when I don't have you in my scope Shepard." Garrus growled. If he hadn't made that deal with Liara, he'd be half temped to pull the trigger. Not to kill Shepard of course but who's to say his sniper rifle didn't have an accidental discharge that happened to graze the commander?

"You take all the fun out of it Garrus." Garrus was sure he could hear Shepard pouting. This was the woman that had save civilization 2 years ago? The one that set him on the path he walked now as ArchAngel? The one that had been resurrected at the cost of billions of credits? The one acting like a school girl?

"So how's the sex with biosuit girl Garrus?"

Garrus tap his head against the butt of his rifle a few times out of frustration. First off, he knew Joker was laughing his brittle boned ass off, and secondly, only Jack would be that blunt.

"There isn't any sex." Garrus ground out.

"Really? I heard she was getting a whole mess of shots or something so you two could have freaky 3 fingered sex."

Garrus hated the rumor mill, even if the rumor was mostly true. One of the things that the books Tali and Garrus had gotten suggested that Tali start an immuno booster regimen to help bolster her immune system. And so Tali was on one, under the watchful eye of Dr. Chakwas, who to her credit didn't say anything about Garrus being there for the initial consultation.

"Do you think he's an ass or breast kind of guy?" Jack asked Shepard.

"I don't think turians even have breasts." Shepard replied.

"Still doesn't mean he can't be a breast guy. Could explain why he's jumping species." Jack retorted.

"So how about it Garrus? Are you an ass or breast guy?"

Well, Tali really did have a great ass. Wait why was there now hysterical laughter in his ear? Wait, had he just said that out loud? Maybe there was a small chance that Tali wouldn't get wind of this.

"Could we please just focus on the mission please?" Garrus begged. Really he should have known years ago that teasing Shepard about Liara was going to bite him in the ass. Kharma always worked that way.

Jack and Shepard calmed down for the most part and the mission went smoothly. When the ground team made it back to the Normandy, they were met by Tali who had recently made it a point to welcome Garrus back from missions. After making sure he was okay, Tali excused herself and made a great show of walking and swaying her hips, which caused Jack and Shepard to burst out laughing once more. Garrus didn't care, he hated when Tali left him but loved to watch her go.

A/N: Short yes but I really have to get to the root of snapshots to make it work. It's all in the title. Snapshots. Otherwise I get long winded and boring. Review please. They make me happy.


	8. Chapter 8

Gathering Allies

Garrus should have known that Shepard would have assembled the most eccentric crew possible. Never mind that most of this cast was handpicked by the Illusive Man and his dossiers on who to recruit.

There was Tali, the Quarian engineering prodigy that Shepard just made into the chief engineer. Ken and Gabby didn't seem to have any issue with this since Tali was more than qualified.

There was Mordin their chief scientist. This Salarian was almost like the Shepard of the Salarians with his checkered past but for someone with a lab coat was at ease on the battle field. He even mentioned he had once killed a man with farming equipment. Garrus shuddered to think just how many ways that sneaky doctor could kill a man with his lab instruments.

They had picked up Jack next and Garrus privately shared Joker's assessment that the Normandy could only hold so much crazy. Between Jack and Shepard, Garrus was sure they were near their allotted quota. Surprisingly the two biotics hit it off and fast became good friends much to Garrus' chagrin. This meant he, being the combat expert, spent many a mission with Shepard, the leader, and Jack, the wrecking ball, on missions. From that point on most outings for him turned from tactical missions to just keep Shepard alive somehow.

Jack had no formal combat training of her own and so everything was very ad hoc, making working with her anything but simple. Shepard tended to get caught up in being free flowing and most plans went out the window once the bullets and biotics started flying. While Jane didn't have the same level of power of biotics as Jack, that didn't stop the commander from trying to keep up. This made the pace of combat very fast and poor Garrus always had to push himself to keep pace. At least he was getting into really good shape.

Grunt had a surprise package. Garrus had been on hand for Grunt's awakening at Shepard's request since Garrus knew the most about Krogan culture based off of his friendship with Wrex. So when Grunt woke up and pinned Shepard to the crates Garrus did what he had to do. Grab Grunt's massive head and head butt him with enough force that the young Krogan staggered back and let go of Shepard.

Garrus quickly announced that he was Shepard's kratt or honor guard and if Grunt wanted to belong to Shepard's clan then he better not start but trying to kill the warlord. This worked out perfectly because it got Grunt to fall in line rather quickly, Garrus got a new Krogan combat partner much to his delight and Jack's disappointment, and Shepard was still seen by Grunt as the leader. The downside was that Grunt seemed to think that everything had to go through Garrus to get up to Shepard, which at times made Garrus feel like a message boy between the two.

Zaeed was a crusty old merc and Garrus kept an eye on him. Zaeed was a good merc in that he did what he was paid to do and an excellent fighter, but that didn't mean that Garrus trusted the man. For the most part the old man stayed in the starboard cargo hold and that was good enough for Garrus. All the same he had Tali keep her shot gun with her down in engineering.

Of course there was Jacob "The Prize" Taylor. Shepard had told Tali who told him about how Jacob had actually made a move on Shepard and actually called himself "the Prize." Garrus laughed and laughed and laughed. Though it was highly unprofessional, the next time there was a conference of the staff called, Garrus had to excuse himself because he couldn't stop cracking up whenever he looked at Jacob.

Miranda Larson was officially the XO, and she did act in that capacity for most of the crew. A few notable exceptions were pretty much all the aliens on board. Tali put engineering requests to Shepard through him, Grunt put everything through him to Shepard, and Mordin also reported through Garrus to Shepard. Tali and Grunt Garrus could understand as Tali openly hated Cerberus and Grunt was a result of his actions upon awakening. Why the doctor decided to join the small parallel command structure was beyond Garrus. Maybe he just felt more comfortable talking to Garrus.

Lastly, Garrus was sure that Miranda and Jack were a couple just waiting to happen. In fact they were the current largest betting pool and Garrus was glad for it. It kept the lime light off of him and Tali and meant that they weren't going to provide the entertainment for the crew for a while. If Garrus only knew of the list that was brewing, he's see how wrong he was.

And so that was the crew as it stands now. Garrus really hopes they don't pick up too many off beat people. After all, they can only fit so much crazy on the ship and the Normandy really wasn't all that big.


	9. Chapter 9

Making friends

Now that Tali thought about it, the Normandy was the perfect sized vessel. Small enough that most everyone knew each other but still big enough that you could avoid people if you wanted to. Like Zaaed, who thankfully stayed on his side of the ship. Miranda Tali avoided all together out of principle though she was sure that she was a nice person. Gabby and Ken were certainly nice people and Gabby was even becoming what Tali might consider a friend.

Kelly Chambers, Shepard's yeoman or as Jack had so colorfully called her, "Shepard's bitch" was also pretty friendly towards the Quarian, though Tali was sure Kelly was friendly towards everyone. And wanted to hump them all. Once you got passed that friendly demeanor and the fact that Kelly was constantly analyzing your behavior, you had to put up with the fact that Kelly was quite possibly the horniest person on the ship. There was even a rumor flying around that Kelly had done just about every alien species in the galaxy, including varren. It was no secret, however, that Kelly wanted in Shepard's pants and had even come to Tali to try to get some information out of her that might help her in her quest.

Still Tali did nothing to help Kelly out so that Shepard could suffer on her own. So long as Shepard was the target of Kelly's lust Tali would stay off the radar. Hopefully.

Tali did make quick friends with Katsumi when she came on board. The cat thief was really talkative and got bored easily, so she would sometimes visit engineering and just chat with Tali for a while. As both were users of combat drones, they did spend some time bonding over that and Shepard.

Ah Shepard. She had a way of bringing people together. Maybe that's why she was such a great leader and friend. Or big sister. Tali was sure that if she ever had a big sister they would be like Shepard, taking charge and offering advice on things. And introducing Tali to all the ills of the universe, like lady's night. This once a week ritual included all the women of the crew who took over the mess. What they did each week varied but it generally boiled down to the ritualistic gossiping and telling of dirty stories.

Sometimes Tali didn't like lady's night because Kelly might corner her and torture her with either questions about Shepard, or tips on Turian anatomy or relationships. Tali didn't mind the tips, but she really though she knew enough about her Turian for now.

Other nights it might be fun because she got some time to talk with Shepard or even Dr. Chakwas and reminisce about the old days or tease Shepard about how things were with Liara.

After Shepard, Liara was probably closest to Tali and vice versa as far as female friends went. On the original Normandy the pair were both single children, who were very naïve about the world at large. Since they got left behind for most of the missions they had a lot of time to bond and bond they did.

Things changed a little once Liara and Shepard became an item. Tali had been very jealous that those two were able to jump the species barrier and have a relationship. Now though, Tali felt a little sorry for the couple now that they had to continue their relationship over the comm. system. At least Garrus and herself were on the same ship.


	10. Chapter 10

Keeping it in the family: It begins

Now and again a family meeting would be called to discuss something in private. Normally it would be Shepard getting input from Garrus and Tali. On occasion the "family" would include Joker and Dr. Chakwas as they were also members of the old crew and thus trusted. Dr. Chakwas always provided wisdom that her age gave and Joker actually had something constructive to say now and again.

The crew did pick up on this and had nicknamed Shepard, Garrus, and Tali "Mommy," "Daddy," and "Lil Sis." Garrus was under the impression that Joker had been the one to foster those names and spread them around. He first learned about it when Miranda had come to him with a problem involving Grunt and told him to get his "son" in line again. Only when Miranda saw his blank expression did she explain that he was being referred to informally as "Daddy" and that since Grunt only listened to Garrus and Shepard that made Grunt their "son."

Personally Garrus brushed it off as some form of human humor but dealt with the Grunt issue and thought nothing more of it until the next family meeting was called. Once all the official business was caught up their conversations tended to wander a bit with each sharing something. For reasons unknown even to him Garrus shared the little story of Miranda and Grunt which had both Tali and Shepard clutching their sides in laughter.

It also spawned a horrid idea that could be seen as the precursor to what would be known as the Garrus Vakarian List. Tali thought it would get some laughs and raise spirits a little if Garrus, Shepard and Grunt posed for a family portrait. This left Shepard on the floor crying since she was laughing so hard and Garrus was not amused. Still, outnumbered 2 to 1, Garrus caved.

In the mess hall now hangs a picture of Garrus, Shepard and Grunt. Garrus looks annoyed, Shepard looks like she's trying not to laugh, and Grunt looks mildly confused. Garrus can understand why the Krogan was confused.

After all, Garrus had told Grunt that their battle master (Shepard) wanted a picture of them for their archives. Not something normal for Krogans who have a strong oral history but since Shepard is a human with a Turian second, Grunt let it go. When Garrus and Grunt showed up to have the picture taken, Grunt struck a pose that was meant to intimidate. Shepard however, had the big guy sit on the floor while Garrus and Shepard stood behind him. Tali took the picture and once she blew it up and put it on the wall, word got out fast. The picture was called "Daddy, Mommy, and Son."

People were woken up, people left their duty stations, even Joker left his chair to come see this picture. And that is how it all got started. Various members of the crew took their shot at coming up with something better and eventually that would lead to the List much to Garrus' chagrin. At first the list wasn't all that bad. It really got out of hand when Legion came on board though.

A/N: Yay for more chapters right? Short but at least you got two of them in 1 day! I was going to write about Garrus dealing with Sidonus and Tali dealing with the treason charges but this came out instead.

A request to any of you talented art people. Please make that picture! It really is too funny not to exist.


	11. Chapter 11

Treasonous Family Business

There was a certain advantage of having established a pseudo family amongst the original members of the Normandy. When things had to be hush hush, it really could be quite secretive. Arguments were kept strictly private. The ship never knew just how close the mission nearly derailed on several occasions.

Like when Tali, Garrus and Shepard embarked to pick up the Reaper IFF and ended up with Legion. Tali had steadfastly argued against taking the geth while Garrus argued that this one was clearly different. Shepard had sided with Garrus and Tali didn't speak to him at all for the next month. Tali still sent all of her engineering requests through Garrus instead of Miranda, but she didn't tarry like she normally did whenever she made visits up the crew deck.

While the crew didn't know what they were fighting about, they had figured out that Garrus was in the varren house. Naturally, Joker set up a betting pool to see how long Garrus would stay there.

Things didn't get any better once Legion was activated and tried to send data about the Migrant Fleet back to the geth. Since the Gunnery Controls are closer Garrus got there before Shepard.

Now Garrus had never really cared one way or the other about synthetic life like the geth or AIs but he did feel that Legion was just doing what anyone else would have done. That is get information on someone that tried to kill you and try to send that information back to his people.

Tali hadn't taken kindly to Garrus seemingly taking Legion's side and Shepard arrived in time to see Tali pointing her pistol at Garrus who didn't happy at all. Everyone was sent to their respective rooms and Shepard made sure to keep Tali away from Garrus and Legion.

It was during this down time that Legion and Garrus started to get along. Apart from Shepard, Legion worked best with Garrus and so the two were often paired up. Given how close some missions had been and how large the shuttles were, Grunt of all people had pointed out that they could take more people on missions then just three.

After laughing about how foolish that sounded until the simple truth of it sank in, Shepard decided that Grunt was in fact right. You can fit more than three people in a shuttle. So Garrus was made second team leader and often got to work with Grunt and Legion, since they really only listened to Garrus apart from Shepard. Shepard took advantage of the expanded team and would take other people she normally didn't take like Jack and Kasumi.

Of course with such a large team, everyone had unfinished business to tie up and that's what brought Garrus and Tali back together. Tali had been accused of treason and Shepard had gone racing off to defend her friend. At first it was just Shepard and Tali dealing with the charges until the call came in for him to grab a weapon. Tali was still mad at him but this treason business was a family affair and he was still family.

Only Shepard, Garrus and Tali know what happened on that research ship. Garrus hadn't even comforted Tali when they found the body of her father. The situation was still dangerous at the time and someone had to keep their guard up. Garrus did keep his mouth shut just like Tali wanted even though he wanted to shout the Admiralty Board down. Shepard managed to play the crowd and get Tali acquitted that way.

Back on the ship Tali paid a visit to Garrus for the first time in a month. She just walked up behind him, and clung on to him as she finally got the chance to mourn her father. For his part, Garrus stopped the calibration he was doing and just held Tali and provided the support she needed at the time.

"Thank you." Tali murmured into Garrus' chest. She was curled up in his lap while he was on the floor, his back against the wall. It really couldn't be all that comfortable for him but Tali really felt that she needed physical contact. Or as close as she could get anyway.

"For what?" Garrus asked.

"For staying quiet during my trial. I know that couldn't have been easy for you. And for respecting my wish that no one knows what happened on the research ship."

"You should be thanking Shepard. She's the one that played the crowd to get you acquitted."

"Even so, thank you for being here for me." Tali gave Garrus a squeeze to emphasize her gratitude. "And I'm sorry for not respecting your opinion about Legion. I guess I just assumed you would take my side on the subject."

Tali wasn't proud that she had given Garrus the cold shoulder over the whole Legion incident. Garrus knew of her opinions on synthetics because she always went to him to complain about her latest fight with EDI over something in engineering. It had honestly never occurred to her that Garrus might have a differing view point on the subject. Somehow the fact that they were dating made Tali feel like he should have her opinion and she had felt betrayed when Garrus had taken to Legion's defense.

After seeing her father's obsession with finding a way to kill the geth, Tali had taken some time to step back and look at the geth issue again. Maybe the quarian people were nursing a grudge against the geth. An understandable grudge but it was long overdue to lay it to rest. And maybe it was time to start treating the geth like another race instead of just machines. From the security recordings that Tali had hacked into, Garrus was certainly treating Legion like any other member of the crew and as such, Legion responded to Garrus the best.

Tali felt Garrus nod by way of accepting her apology. "Part of being in a relationship is respecting others opinions. And you can't respect those opinions if you never ask and just assume what those opinions might be." Garrus chided. Garrus knew that Tali was cringing behind her mask. He didn't like having to say it either. Mostly because it made him feel like he was scolding his daughter but it had to be said.

One of the toughest parts of their relationship was how little relationship time there really way. Yes they had said they would give things a go but it's far easier to say than do. When you are part of a crew that is trying to stop galactic mass extinction there isn't much private time. Even Shepard only managed that one stop in Illium to see Liara, and that was only because they had potential recruits there. Though Garrus was sure Shepard managed to get laid after being dead for 2 years while he hadn't seen any action since….

They were always busy. Tali kept the ship running and he kept Grunt, and now Legion, in line as well as did most of the tactical planning to all the ground missions. It's not like they didn't try to get together to be a couple. They had their lunches but those couldn't get very intimate when you have the entirety of the ship within earshot. And particularly after missions Garrus was dead beat.

So it had taken Legion to spark off their first couple interaction in a while, which turned out to be a major spat that ended with Tali in his lap as he sat on the Gunnery Control floor. There was something good that came out of the whole debacle; even if they were mad at each other, they still could depend on the other to be there. If only they knew how much more that bond would be tested and soon.

A/N: Yes I know it has been a while since I last updated anything. I really did try to do something over winter break. And I did managed half of this chapter over break so there is that. Let's see, my excuse would have to be playing an RTS so much I'm ranked top 1% in the world at the time of this writing, 19/1/11. So that is my excuse. That and school and having made a half baked chapter of the List. Goal is to get that out by Singles Awareness Day on Feb 14th. Review minions!


	12. Chapter 12

In Which Tali and Garrus discuss Singles Awareness Day

Something was up. Tali wasn't sure exactly what it was but it seemed to have some hold over Gabby and Ken. Gabby had put on makeup this morning and Ken had presented her with a half dozen red flowers and a small box of something.

It wasn't just Ken and Gabby though. A lot of the single men on the ship were giving red flowers and boxes to single women on the ship. Ms. Kelly certainly got a lot of them. However it wasn't just confined to just men giving to women. Jack gave flowers to Miranda so obviously gender didn't really matter.

What seemed to be important was the fact that people certain people were giving other people. Maybe if Tali just concentrated on what she knew about Ken and Gabby she could figure this out. The rumor mill said they were either an item or going to be an item soon. The date seemed to be some sort of trigger though. February 14th obviously held some significance for humans.

And a certain turian was at least aware of the date's significance. Tali couldn't help but smile when her email chimed. The message contained no text and two pictures of those red flowers which were labeled "roses" and an open box of brown round things called "chocolates."

Since the elevator in the Normandy was still one of the slowest modes of transport known to a space faring species, Tali and Garrus would sometimes send messages to each other via his HUD and her own HUD that displayed on her facemask. This way they could both still communicate without having to use Cerberus' consoles. It wasn't like they were trying to keep military secrets out of Cerberus' hands, it was the principle of it.

And Tali liked to think of it a little more intimately. Since only each other saw the messages through their private channel it was almost like their suits were linked. Tali blushed at the thought of really "linking suits" with Garrus. They had talked about it and Tali had taken the steps necessary to really put Garrus at ease. Now they just needed to find the time and more importantly the privacy.

The woosh of the doors on her side of the engineering bay drew Tali's attention to it. In came Garrus sporting the turian version of a smile.

"You're thinking of something naughty aren't you?" Garrus said as he drew Tali into a hug. Between her expressive eyes and body language Garrus was getting good at guessing what Tali was thinking. More often than not Garrus managed to guess correctly.

Tali was glad that her back was to Garrus. He couldn't see the blush creep up to her cheeks, but he could read it in her body language. At the very least she could get a little revenge on Garrus by pressing against him.

"Get my message?"

"I did though I'm not sure I understand it." Tali let her hands cover Garrus' that were on her hips.

"It's a human holiday that is supposed to be celebrating love. A dozen heads of thorny flowers and a mild poisonous laxative are considered to be the very least that the male must produce for the female."

"You sure do make that sound romantic." Tali commented wryly.

"Shepard explains it much better of course but it does seem really strange to me. It's almost krogan like demanding trophies and ingesting a poison."

"Chocolate is poisonous? Then why do humans give it to each other as a sign of love?"

"Well, it's only mildly poisonous. I think a human would have to consume something like 22 lbs of chocolate for it to kill them. And it seems a little cruel to me as well. The holiday really seems to make single people feel left out since it is a couple's holiday." Garrus pointed out.

"That doesn't seem very festive. Do turians have a holiday like this?" Tali asked.

"Not really. There are separate holidays when the boys gives gifts to the girls and vice versa but that's just for school kids. It's mostly a volus idea drummed up to boost sales of certain things. The adults don't need a certain holiday to exchange gifts. I just thought you might have felt a little left out since I know Ken gave Gabby some gifts earlier today."

"Thank you for that Garrus. It was very thoughtful of you. Quarians don't have a holiday like this either. It would be far too wasteful though if a boy really likes a girl he might make her something to put on her suit."

Garrus gently coaxed Tali to turn around so they were face to face. Garrus leaned in close so that he could look straight into Tali's eyes.

"Is that a hint Ms. Zorah?"

"Well um… yes. NO! I mean it would be nice but you don't have to. I know how busy you are and you really shouldn't be spending your spare" Tali sheepishly rambled.

Garrus cut Tali off with a soft chuckle. "I'll take it under advisement for now." With that Garrus leaned down and bumped his foreheaded against the top of Tali's helmet.

A/N: I know it's late but yay for spring break right? And it is true, chocolate is a laxative and is poisonous in massive doses. It's poisonous to a lot of things like cats and dogs most famously but can kill people too. Like Garrus said, you need about 22 pounds of chocolate to take down an adult.

This chapter is replacing chapter 12 because chapter 12 had written me into a horrible place that was just so bad there was no redeeming it via other chapters. This nice a fluffy chapter should make up for the long absence hopefully.

Anyone else going to lose tons of sleep over Dragon Age II? Samesies.


	13. Chapter 13

Puberty

Why couldn't they just go to a bar and get him some drinks and lap dances? It seemed like a perfect excuse to give the crew some shore leave. But no, the krogans had to kill things to go through puberty.

Which Garrus thought as a little strange. He was pretty sure he had seen Grunt kill plenty of things. In fact, Garrus was sure he could get footage of many an example from Legion. The only plus side to this was it gave the perfect excuse to see an old friend on Tuchanka.

Mordin had some business on Tuchanka as well so Shepard and Tali joined Garrus and Legion in accompanying Grunt to the surface. Garrus knew that Wrex had gone back to the krogan homeworld but he hadn't expected Wrex to be as set up as he was. Still the battlemaster was pleased to see his old friends.

Shepard of course had to clear up how she was still alive. Tali surprisingly explained why Legion was here, gave Wrex a picture, and then left with Mordin and Shepard. Garrus had to be the one to tell Wrex that they had sought him out since they didn't know a thing about how krogan puberty worked exactly. Wrex directed Grunt to speak to the clan shaman and to come back once he had done so.

"So you had to engineer a krogan fighting partner to replace me, huh?" Wrex said with a toothy smile.

"Well he doesn't have your biotics but he's just as durable." Garrus replied. The friends spent the time catching up with each other. Wrex was highly amused with the picture, which turned out to be the "Daddy, Mommy, and Son" picture from the mess hall wall.

"Yeah, despite being a Cerberus crew, they seem to really have taken a liking to the aliens onboard." Garrus explained.

"So does this picture mean you're banging Shepard instead of Tali now?" Wrex ribbed Garrus and got the fringe raising response he wanted. It took Garrus a few moments to calm down enough for his fringe to fall back down.

"No. The crew just happen to give us those nicknames because of the command structure in regards to Grunt. Though I think we have Joker to blame for the nicknames."

"Then you are banging Tali then?"

"Tali-creator is the mate of Vakarian Garrus." Legion said announcing the return of Grunt and the geth. Garrus could only facepalm at his luck.

"We're dating." Garrus clarified.

"Well then tell Joker he owes me for the bet I made a couple of years ago." Wrex told Garrus before getting down to business. After getting a heads up about the Threshermaw from Wrex, Garrus, Grunt and Legion set out on Grunt's Rite of Passage.

It was very simple and the hardest part of it was keeping Grunt's blood rage down enough to distinguish friend or foe. Though to be honest it wasn't that hard as Garrus and Legion were the only turian and geth on the planet. Probably anyway. The Threshernaw was a bit of a challenge but they took it down.

This had an unusual side effect that got Garrus in a bit of trouble later. Due to the rarity of Threshermaws being taken down and probably Wrex's tales of Garrus' valor, when the mating requests for Grunt came in, a request also came in for Garrus. EDI had decided to pipe this information to the entire party on Tuchanka so that Tali heard about it. She was not amused.

A/N: A short little bit before bed time. Just so you know, Chapter 12 has been replaced. So go back and read it because it is entirely new.


	14. Chapter 14

Boys being boys

"Come on now Shepard. Be a good "Mommy" and help get your "Son" get laid before you attempt to kill half the crew."

Shepard, Tali, and Mordin had gotten back later than Grunt, Garrus and Legion and by that point word had already come down that Grunt had some breeding requests. Wrex was doing his best, or worst, to get Shepard to agree to stay for another day. Garrus wasn't being much help either.

"The female's camp isn't that far Shepard. Grunt can go tonight and be back in the morning."

"But I really d"

"See, Grunt wants to go." Wrex cut off the younger krogan.

Shepard gave a defeated look at Tali only to realize that she couldn't read the quarian's expression, which made her feel doubly defeated. If Shepard was looking for help from Tali, the command sure as hell didn't get it.

"Let the boys have their fun Shepard. Who knows when we'll be back on Tachunka again."

With her only female companion against her, Shepard caved. "Fine. Be back on the _Normandy_ in the morning." With that Shepard motioned for Mordin and Legion to follow though neither of them moved. "Fine, fine." Shepard muttered under her breathe. She kept on marching back towards the shuttle and completely missed seeing Garrus and Wrex fist bump each other.

Tali, however, didn't, and was greatly amused by the men's boyish behavior. "No wandering off to the female's camp, you hear me? I'll be back later with your dinner Garrus."

The night that resulted can only be guessed at by the females of the _Normandy_. Tali did come back to drop off Garrus' dinner as well as every Y chromosome carrying member of the ship. Even Joker had left his chair to join the party.

There were pyjak shooting contests, and joy rides in the tonkas and of course story telling. Wrex and Garrus told their rendition of what it was like to fight Sovereign, with some minor embellishment of course. Garrus then stole the spotlight and told a third person account of ArchAngel's last stand on Omega. It naturally appealed to the krogans sense of being warriors and once everyone figured out that Garrus was ArchAngel, Garrus had a cult following by that next morning. A lot of the men on the ship would point to this being the origins of the List. Especially since Legion really started to lay on the hero worship heavy after that point.

Boys being boys, made it back to the _Normandy, _hung over from the booze they had brought with them, by 2 pm. As the filtered in Shepard walked loudly down the CIC towards the cockpit and practically yelled "Did you get Grunt laid last night?"

"Shepard, please," Joker hoarsely whispered as he shuffled to his chair, "Your steps are making my teeth hurt."

Garrus wasn't as hung over as most of the rest of the men since he had only had 1 bottle of turian brandy over the evening. There weren't that many bottle on board and he wanted to save the few remaining for a special occasion.

"Now you know, I knew we forgot to do something last night. I guess we have no choice but to remedy that tonight!"

The glare that Garrus receive from Shepard told him that he was very wrong about that point.


	15. Chapter 15

So there is this couch

It's amazing how a piece of furniture can play a major role in relationship, but the couch in the port observatory managed to do just that. While normally occupied by Kasumi, the thief graciously gave it up for a couple of hours every Saturday for Garrus and Tali. After the latter had complained to Kasumi how hard it was to find a decent place to talk private even when the pair could find free time together, Kasumi suggested that they use her couch once in a while.

That once in a while became a permanent and steady fixture in Garrus' and Tali's routine. No matter what was going on no one was to disturb the couple from after lunch until dinner on Saturday. No one was quite sure what the consequences would be, but no one was brave enough to find out.

The routine was the same but the conversations always differed. Garrus would lie with his head in Tali's lap while Tali lazily played with his fringe. It was a simple, but loving gesture and something that Tali didn't get to do often.

They would talk about just about whatever came to them. Sometimes it was serious, like finding out what each believed in spiritually. Ancestral worship was confirmed for Tali, which was known by Garrus, but Tali didn't know that Garrus had picked up Zen Buddhism during his time in C-Sec.

Sometimes it was simple and silly, like their favorite colors. Purple and blue for Tali and Garrus. And sometimes it was just to be alone together not saying anything. Like now Garrus was napping, tired from his boys night out with Wrex. Tali just gently stroked his fringe, and thought back to some of the more interesting moments they had had on the couch.

There was the time she made Garrus really squirm. As much bravado he had shown telling his famous reach and flexibility story to the men of the ship, he was rather reluctance to discuss any past relationships he had had prior to Tali. Tali knew that he had to have had them, his age alone made it impossible for him not to had relationships before she came along.

_Flashback_

"I guess we had to talk about this eventually." Garrus said sitting up. "I don't suppose you had any boyfriends before me?"

Tali put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow that he couldn't see. "Just because I was an Admiral's daughter or in an environmental suit all the time doesn't mean I didn't have my admirers." Tali said heatedly.

Garrus and Tali held each other's gaze for a moment before Tali dropped her head to mumble, "No boyfriends though. Quarians pre-pilgrimage are strong discouraged to establish strong relationships since the odds are so low that anyone ends up on the same ship as someone they know. It's partly due to the need to keep up genetic diversity in the fleet."

"I've never had much luck in the romantic department. A few once night stands, a couple of 'reach and flexibility' incidents, and one very short relationship with a turian officer that worked in records at C-Sec. We both worked too much to have much of a relationship. In fact, after the first month we just saw less and less of each other. It got to the point where by the fourth month we met up just to confirm it was over.*"

"Sounds like a lot of flings." Tali said looking at her hands. She wasn't sure how she felt that Garrus seemed capable of just having sex for sex's sake. Then again, there didn't seem to be emotional attachment to his previous partners. He clearly had an emotional attachment to her and that thought did make her feel a little better.

"That's pretty normal for turians. It starts in basic training as stress relief, and continues in units, especially on ships." Garrus put a talon under Tali's chin and gently made her look at him. "Turians do mate for life though."

_End Flashback_

*A/N: A close friend of mine actually had a relationship like this. Lasted all of 4 months with the last two months having zero contact between him and the girl. Easiest break up ever…

I also thought this would be a nice little look into Garrus' romantic past. I really can't see him having too many relationships. He's too much of a workaholic.


	16. Chapter 16

WARNING: This chapter discusses suicide.

Turian lullaby

Turians were universally stereotyped for some of their traits, just like every other race. Even people who called themselves a bad turian were still turian. Despite his issues with the system, Tali knew that Garrus was turian through and through. Maybe he wasn't a hardcore traditionalist but he wasn't completely liberal either. In her mind, he was a good mix of both. However, when push came to shove he always fell back towards his traditional side. And that's what had had her worried.

Even with two combat teams sometimes things did get dicey. There was one occasion where the team had gotten ambushed. There is a saying that you never see the back of a turian unless he is dead. This is because of their rigid discipline and planning. Under duress Garrus' military training kicked in and while he never faltered the others weren't as diligent in their fighting retreat. Still, Garrus' fall back plan worked and they were able to make it back to the _Normandy_ without too much trouble. And Tali would have been completely happy and written off the event as just another day if Shepard hadn't said something to her later.

"Garrus always has a way out of every situation. He can't have known we were coming to get him at Omega. Where was his way out then?"

Shepard had a good point. Garrus had no way of knowing that they would show up to rescue him from his besieged position. Sure he wouldn't have considered… would he? Could that have been his plan at Omega? To try to take as many of them out with him?

Suicide wasn't very common in turian culture, but it was common enough to be accepted as a means of repentance. And Tali knew for a fact that Garrus blamed himself for the loss of his team on Omega. Death by merc could have been Garrus' way of a vengeful death.

Tali wasn't exactly sure how to broach the subject with Garrus. He seemed so much better now, especially compared to his first few days on the _Normandy_. He had been so withdrawn and forlorn looking back then. Yes he had immediately put up a front that made everyone think he was a badass soldier but his eyes were always hollow. Now they definitely had life in them.

Tali liked to think that maybe she might be part of the reason that he wasn't so down anymore. It made her happy knowing that she made him happy. And she didn't want to bring up such an unhappy episode of his life. So she didn't say anything about the subject. Until the Sidonis incident.

It was a family issue so only Jane and herself went with Garrus as they tore through the Citadel. Never had Tali seen Garrus so possessed or more brutal. Intervention from Shepard is the only reason Harkin was left alive. However, Shepard stepped out of the way of Garrus' shot when they had found Sidonis. Tali stepped into it.

All Garrus said was that he would meet them back at the skycab. All Jane said was, "He really must love you. It might not make sense to you or me, but to turians the bosses take all the blame to anything that happens to people underneath them. For Garrus to have closure over the Omega incident, he needed to kill Sidonis to make things right."

The ride back to the ship was silent and awkward. Garrus stared blankly out of the window the entire trip. Jane concentrated on driving. Tali did some blistering research on the extranet via her HUD in her visor to see if what Jane had said was true. The more she read, the worse she felt.

Still, Tali wasn't going to let her cultural slip up hang over their relationship. As soon as they were on the ship she very unceremoniously dragged Garrus by the hand to Kasumi's and kicked the cat thief out. Tali took her spot on the couch. Garrus stood at the window and looked out.

"I did some quick research in the cab. I'm sorry that I made you let him go. I didn't know that turians put all the blame on the superior's shoulders. I guess that is why you took after Sidonis with such ferocity. No wonder you took it so hard, since all those guys at Om… I just felt sorry for the guy but that's not a good excuse. " Tali finally ended her rambling to contemplate her hands as they wrung each other in turn.

"No, Tali, I'm the one that should be apologizing. I let things go too far. If you and Shepard hadn't stopped me, I would have butchered two people today. Not that they don't deserve it, but what you is true. It won't change the past and it isn't who I really am. Thank you for stopping me. That was very brave and stupid of you." Garrus looked over at Tali who was now looking back at him. Garrus gave her a sad smile and moved to sit down next to her on the couch.

"I suppose that since we are talking about Sidonis we might as well talk about Omega."

"What about Omega?"

"You know very well what I'm talking about Tali. You are a very smart girl after all."

Tali reached up and touched the right side of Garrus' face. The heavily scarred tissue was still sensitive but Tali was gentle in her caress. Garrus leaned into her touch and gave a slight nod. A silent acknowledgement that they were both talking about the same event that happened on Omega.

"You're right Tali, blame always goes on the superior's head. It helps keep people from promoting idiots to jobs that can't handle. But there is more to it than that. I lost the guys I had put together. My own crew. Lost because one of them sold out his teammates. And he has to live with that just like I have to live with it.

I was depressed and enraged. More enraged really as I went cutting through enough of each merc group to force them together. I'm really not sure what my plan was. I guess I was just going to take as many of them out with me. Make them pay dearly for the lives that they took. And they would have. They would have overrun me eventually. I would have run out of heat sinks or food and water or stims. Then they would have gotten me. Then I could have died like my men did. Surrounded, outgunned, and with no chance of survival. Two of them were still alive when I got back to the base but I couldn't save them. I couldn't save them Tali. I couldn't save my own men."

Garrus broke down into tears and buried his face in his hands. Tali took Garrus by the shoulders and maneuvered him until he was crying with his face in her lap. She couldn't do anything but comfort him as he finally grieved the loss of his friends and teammates. He had once been there for her when she had to grieve and now she got the chance to return the favor. Hopefully, neither of them would have to do this again anytime soon.

A/N: Just my thoughts, but the ArchAngel mission really seems like Garrus was aiming for death by cop as a means of suicide. After all, Sidonis had skipped out on Omega and Garrus didn't know where to. Yes he does go after Sidonis later but it seems more like a mission of opportunity to me. It does take time to find people. Maybe Garrus used his old C-sec connections.

Anyway, I hope you all like this installment. We've covered both personal missions now so I have to come up with something new now.


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: No spoilers since all information used is from LotSB dlc

Departure

Garrus was at a loss about what to do these days. Things on the Normandy really quieted down after the Batarian Incident. On the way back to Earth for her court martial hearings Shepard dropped off people along the way. After all, the Normandy was once more an Alliance ship and having a host of Cerberus crew plus numerous unauthorized aliens onboard just wouldn't do when Shepard showed up on Earth.

Grunt was deposited on Tuchanka and taken under Wrex's wing. The two would most certainly share stories of their adventures with Shepard and Garrus. After all, Shepard was crazy and Garrus must surely be a krogan in a turian body.

Mordin was similarly returned to his home world. What the aged salarian scientist would do, no one was sure though it was jested he could take up a singing career. Mordin spent the next 30 minutes explaining to poor Kelly Chambers why that would not be the best use of his talents.

Legion made its way back to Rannoch and the geth to share its experiences with organics with the collective. Hopefully the experience would be seen as a good thing.

Most of the crew was left at the Citadel, as was Samara. Now that the mission was complete the justicar had other duties to attend to.

That only left Tali and Garrus as the only aliens on board and they couldn't stay for long. They were on board at the pleasure of lt. commander Shepard and Shepard was very likely to be no longer in command of the Normandy.

With that in mind Garrus and Tali spent a lot of their time together. Either with Shepard trying to comfort their friend or just the two of them privately. A lot of the time they merely held each other in the lounge and quietly reminisced about the past.

After seeing their friend taken into custody, the dextro pair said their good byes and parted ways. Tali was headed back to the Flotilla. Between Garrus, Shepard and Legion, Tali had been convinced that maybe a peaceful solution could be found in the quarian geth conflict. The odds weren't good but the one thing Tali had learned from Shepard was that the odds didn't matter if you tried hard enough. And try is all Tali could do.

Garrus didn't quite as clear a goal as Tali did. Just before reaching Earth his sister had sent him a message. Their mother had finally succumbed to her disease. Garrus was going back for the funeral on Palaven. After the funeral, he wasn't sure what he would do. Omega was still a mess but he couldn't take up the mantle of Archangel again. After all Archangel had died when a rocket hit him.

He could try to warn the turian government on Palaven about the Reaper threat, but the last time Garrus had tried something Shepard like his team was betrayed and killed. However, that was with much smaller stakes and Reapers didn't blackmail people. They either indoctrinated you or killed you.

The stakes were too high. If Shepard was going to be locked up Garrus would have to carry the burden of preparing the galaxy for war with the Reapers. While the quarian Flotilla was the largest fleet in the galaxy, they had a different agenda and lacked the logistical support and war machine of the Turian Hierarchy. Garrus himself didn't have the means of getting the attention of the government, but he knew someone that could. All Garrus had to do was convince him that he wasn't crazy and swallow his pride. Garrus could do one. The other was out of his control but Garrus didn't have a choice. If he wanted to see Tali again Garrus would have to try, and he had every intention of not failing.


End file.
